Ali Akbar Salehi in Depth

Ali Akbar Salehi has a BSC from the American University of Beirut and a P.H.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which he earned in 1977. He was also Associate Professor and Chancellor of Sharif University of Technology and a member of the Iranian Academy of Sciences and the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Italy.

Mr. Salehi served as Iran’s representative to the I.A.E.A. when the reform leader Mohammad Khatami was president. It was during that time, in 2003, that the agency became aware of Iran’s 18 years of lying about its secret nuclear program. For Mr. Ahmadinejad, Mr. Salehi’s appointment also serves a political purpose: he succeeds Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the agency’s longtime director, who is seen as an ally of Mir Hussein Moussavi, the leader of the political opposition.

On 18 December 2003, Salehi signed the Additional Protocol to the safeguard agreement, on behalf of Iran.

Later on 20 January 2004, Salehi was nominated as a scientific advisor to the Iranian foreign minister.

On 16 July 2009, Salehi was appointed as the new head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, replacing Gholam Reza Aghazadeh.

On 26 Sept 2009, The head of Iran’s nuclear program said he was “shocked” by the West’s angry reaction to news that his country is opening a second uranium enrichment facility, which he said was disclosed a year earlier than required by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, state television reported.

Salehi said the Western leaders’ “embarrassing reaction and their unbalanced response has shocked us” and that Iran had acted within the framework of IAEA laws. “We have to inform the agency of the building of nuclear facilities 180 days before insertion of nuclear fuel, but we informed them even sooner,” he said.

Salehi said the Western reactions were planned and accused the United States, France and Britain of hatching a conspiracy against Iran. “The plot was that the three big Western countries were to speak against Iran at the G-20 summit and spin the story to make the world opinion united against Iran,” he said.

Salehi told state television that the new site was built to protect the country’s nuclear program. “We built a new installation that could guarantee the continuation of our nuclear activities. Iran’s nuclear activities will not be stopped under any circumstances,” he said.

Asked about the Israeli threats against Iran’s nuclear program, Ali-Akbar Salehi ruled out the possibility of any attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“We have taken all the necessary defensive precautions, including air defenses, and we hold regular maneuvers at the nuclear sites. So I assure the great Iranian nation that the installations will not be attacked,” the Fars news agency quoted Salehi as saying on Tuesday.

However, Iran will still take any threat seriously, he stressed.

“We have taken all precautions and we are sure that no military attack will be able to stop Iran’s nuclear program,” Salehi stated.

On February 2010, He told Al Jazeera that his scientists have the potential to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels, he warns Barack Obama, the US president, not to test Iran, saying there could be unimaginable consequences if he takes “any wrong step”.

On 19 May, 2010, The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said the renewed sanctions threat would be seen in the developing world as a bullying attempt by the big powers, and he hoped the measures could still be avoided.

“They (Western countries) invalidate themselves in the view of public opinion by issuing sanctions,” Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters. “There are some wise people among them to avoid doing such irrational actions.”